Gissed

The ISSeP implements various research projects concerning different sediment management issues: mineralogical treatment and recovery of sediment at cement works (SOLINDUS project), the evaluation of risks related to recovery through returning sediment to the soil (VALSOLINDUS project), the development of a methodological decision-making tool for management channel sediments (GeDSeT project), or even the quantitative and qualitative assessment of sediment deposits in navigable and non-navigable water courses (GISSeD).

Project Moerman – GISSeD

Financing: Moerman law (own funds).
Budget: €955,000, exclusively for the ISSeP.
Project duration: began in July 2003 for a three-year period.
Partners: project carried out in collaboration with the Laboratory of Hydrography and Fluvial Geomorphology (Laboratoire d’Hydrographie et de Géomorphologie fluviatile, LHGF-ULg) and with the support of the Hydraulic Research Department (Direction des Recherches Hydrauliques, SPW-DGO2), the integrated Hydrological Management Directorate (Direction de la Gestion hydrologique intégrée, SPW-DGO2) and the Directorate of non-navigable water courses (Direction des Cours d’eau non navigable, SPW-DGO3).
This project comprises a PhD student completing a thesis at the ULg.

The GISSeD’s main aim is to develop evaluation tools for flows of sediments and associated pollutants in navigable and non-navigable water courses.
A pilot station prototype for measuring suspended materials, developed by the ISSeP in collaboration with the LHGF, was installed in May 2014 at the outlet of the Samme basin in Ronquières. The station is equipped with a gantry, created in the ISSeP’s workshops, used to support the measuring equipment. The equipment installed includes a turbidity sensor which takes continuous measurements, a sampler which automatically takes water samples, a pressure sensor which takes water samples based on the height of the eater in the water course and a GSM modem for managing the sampler remotely.  This device aims to quantify the flows of suspended materials transiting through the outlet of the Samme basin with a significant portion of them accumulating in the Charleroi-Brussels canal at the foot of the Ronquières inclined plane.
The pilot station is also equipped with a sediment trap prototype (Time Integrated Sampler) which is used to collect suspended materials in a sufficient quantity to measure the concentration of micropollutants (PCB, Hg) associated with the sediment transported in suspension. This device for analysing the sediment quality relates, among others, to one of the objectives of directive 2008/EC/105 to perform analyses on the evolution of sediment quality trends.
Two similar stations will be installed in early 2015 for the Sambre, upstream and downstream of Charleroi, with the aim of characterising the transport of sediments and related pollutants for a navigable water course crossing a large urban area.

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Portique de mesure de la station pilote de Ronquières sur la Samme (photo ISSeP)
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Equipements de mesure de la turbidité et d’échantillonnage des matières en suspension sur la Samme à Ronquières (photo ISSeP)